Ni no Kuni

[Amras.MG]

Anyone here been keeping up with this game? Planning on getting it?

I think it looks interesting but alas for no PS3.

Wikipedia description

Basically Studio Ghibli x JRPG.

[big bad birtha]

I'm currently playing it, but I'm not very far. So far, the game has been a mix of dull and interesting. Most of the fun I have had was in the boss fights, where a little strategy is required.

Though in the recent parts I'm at, things have gotten a bit more challenging, and a really interesting feature has been introduced which involves the familiars. If this feature has some depth, this could be really fun.

This has potential. However it seems this game starts slowly. I wouldn't be surprised if I started singing praise after about 10 more hours of gameplay.

[Amras.MG]

I've heard that most of the draw of the game is in the aesthetics, mostly with the visual look of the game, and that besides that it has a generic RPG (w/ real time action) battle system, with some Pokemon mixed in for a bit of a unique flavor. The main draw is the world though. Would you say that's the case?

[big bad birtha]

At the point I'm in, not really. There's a few strange creatures here and there, but otherwise nothing that hasn't been seen in 1000 other JRPGS as far as aesthetics go.

One thing that's bugging me is the names. During some cut-scenes, Oliver will shout someone's name, but it says something else in the dialogue box. He's like "MARY!", but the dialogue box will say "SYLVIA!".

[PikaGod]

Are you using Japanese or English audio? Because the subtitles are based on the English dub.

[big bad birtha]

Well I guess I'm at the point where I guess I can give a good reliable opinion now.

This "potential" I spoke of turned into nothing. I thought the Pokemon aspect would be better than what it is, but it gets kinda dull in the long run. I really thought turning Pokemon into a modern RPG would be great, so I was excited when I saw this game would be like that. Though it gets a little more fun again when the game gives you a spot to avoid mindlessly grinding for hours after evolving resets your levels.

The story is poorly written. The entire time the writers just throw whatever they can think of to cheaply appeal to the player's emotions. I'm sure it'd get alot of people, but I just think it's lazy writing.

The partner AI is fucking terrible, and even worse is that you can't really much change it (you can change little things here and there, but they don't make much difference). They never try guarding when the bosses charge up an ultimate move. Even on small weak enemies, they fucking spam the most MP costly attacks they can.

Though I will say this. I actually feel like finishing this, which sadly is getting pretty uncommon for me nowadays. It's just a shame this game didn't live up to my expectations.

So kids, what did we learn today? Don't talk highly of something until you've fully tasted it!

[Loki]

Originally Posted by big bad birtha

So kids, what did we learn today? Don't talk highly of something until you've fully tasted it!

Yeah, I was pretty worried about that. A lot of magazines rated it highly but one gave it an average score, so I thought that was suspicious.

Nice to hear my suspicions are at least not totally off.

[Amras.MG]

bbb you're the only person who's written anything negative about the story and charm of the game. However, people have acknowledged combat isn't fantastic. I think you're supposed to use a "group defend" or "group attack" button for those situations you mentioned.

Then again, this is all just a guess, since I don't have a PS3 and thus will never get to play this game.

[Talon87]

A lot of people give Ghibli films high scores. I still don't majorly enjoy any of their films bar Totoro (a seminal "film for kids and their parents" film) and Grave of the Fireflies (which I loathed the one and only time I saw it animated; but I cried my eyes out with the live-action version). I think a lot of the buzz here was "OMG A VIDEO GAME THAT LOOKS LIKE A LIVING GHIBLI FILM!" But it doesn't. Not if you're not willfully blind, it doesn't. It looks good ... but it still looks very much like a Namco Tales game. It doesn't look like a living motion picture. At least, not from the gameplay I saw on YouTube.

As for the plot, Ghibli films tend to have such bizarro plots. Princess Mononoke. Spirited Away. Howl's Moving Castle. You often lose track of what the story was initially about (curing a curse, curing a curse, and OH YEAH curing a curse in all three instances ) as the story tangentially leap frogs from one agenda to the next. Would not be surprised if Ni no Kuni is plagued by similar plot development issues.

[Amras.MG]

Yeah but this is also a Level-5 game, Talon, so I don't know quite how accurately those criticisms apply, just because they're tempered.

[big bad birtha]

The plot itself is fine. It's like combining a kid's show and a JRPG (basically let's save everyone from becoming depressed by the evil powers!). It's just that it's poorly written. The dramatic scenes are really REALLY forced and cliche. I would like to give examples, but they're pretty big spoilers.

As far as the "charm" goes, it's really nothing special. Actually the characters begin to get on my nerves after a while. Oliver can't think for himself despite being super sage kid. Then Esthy always flips the fuck out over the smallest thing.

The animated bits seem to have a Ghibli feel to them (I haven't watched a Ghibli film in 6 years, mind you). Especially the animated bit when you enter the fairy town. I actually thought the fairy town was very nice. That was probably a high point in the game. It actually had a decent manzai act!

[big bad birtha]

Okay, I've finished this. My opinion hasn't really changed since last post though. This isn't a bad game. It's just mediocre and grossly overrated. I felt no real attachment to the story or characters after finishing. I did atleast get a little kick out of raising the monsters, and the boss battles were kinda fun.

I'd say Ni no Kuni is about as good as Tales of Graces if you want a comparison. I'm sure it'd be fantastic if you're new to JRPGs, but sadly I've been through too many. The story/gameplay is nothing special to me.

Now that this is out of the way, I can finally start on Fire Emblem.

[Gemini Spark]

I've been watching a friend of mine play through this game, and I have to say I'm pretty impressed with it so far. An RPG with a Studio Ghibli plot? YES! Plus it even puts in classic-style animated cutscenes by Miyazaki. I just wish it was available for Wii...